Zakariasdammen is a 95-metre-high double-curved concrete arch dam in Tafjord, completed in 1968. At the time of its construction, it was the highest dam in Northern Europe, and its sheer scale made it one of the largest encroachments into the natural landscape in the Sunnmøre district.
The dam holds back up to 70 million cubic metres of water in the reservoir Zakariasvatnet, which feeds the hydroelectric power plants in the valley below. The reservoir's name goes back to 1793, when a man called Zakarias Knudson Uri drowned here after his horse spooked and ran into the river Rødalselva.
The flooding of the reservoir came at a cost: three farms were submerged and lost. When the water level drops, the stone walls of these abandoned farmsteads become visible again, a haunting reminder of what was sacrificed for the region's hydroelectric development. A visitor centre in Tafjord covers the history of hydro-power development on Sunnmøre.
The dam holds back up to 70 million cubic metres of water in the reservoir Zakariasvatnet, which feeds the hydroelectric power plants in the valley below. The reservoir's name goes back to 1793, when a man called Zakarias Knudson Uri drowned here after his horse spooked and ran into the river Rødalselva.
The flooding of the reservoir came at a cost: three farms were submerged and lost. When the water level drops, the stone walls of these abandoned farmsteads become visible again, a haunting reminder of what was sacrificed for the region's hydroelectric development. A visitor centre in Tafjord covers the history of hydro-power development on Sunnmøre.
